Golf club with handle sections pivotally connected on a horizontal axis



Feb 3, 1965 c. D. GORANSON ETAL 3, 7

GOLF CLUB WITH HANDLE SECTIONS PIVOTALL CONNECTED ON A HORIZONTAL AXISFiled Nov. 28, 1962 United States Patent GGLF CLUB WITH HANDLE SECTIONSPIVOT- ALLY CONNECTED ON A HORIZONTAL AXIS Charles I). Goranson, 4513 N.Rockwell ,Ave., and Edward A. Hennigan, 2316 Sunnyside-.Ave., both ofChicago, Ill.

Filed Nov. 28, 1962, Ser. No. 240,688 3 1 Claim. (Cl. 273-77) ball andrevcrsely along a path ofdesired movement of i the ball. e i

The primary object of the present invention is to construct a golf clubof the above type in a novel manner to enable unskilled as well asskilled'golfers to control more precisely the movement of the club headinto engagement with the. ball and thereby insure movement of the vballalong the desired path previously selected by the golfer.

Another object is to construct the handle of the club in a novel mannerpermitting the golfer to constrain the movement of the club head easilyto swing with a true pendulum motion in a vertical plane including thedesired path of ball movement. I A more detailed object is to divide thehandle into two sections which are pivotally connected together in anovel manner to insure that, when one section is held stationarily withthe head of the club disposed generally horizontally, the club head isswingable with the other handle section only as a pendulum in a verticalplane.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be come apparentfromthe following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of -a golf club embodying the novelfeatures of the present invention.

FIGJZ is a fragmentary front elevational view of the handle of the club.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational' view of the club handle. I a

FIG. 4 is an exploded fragmentary perspective view of the handlesections and their pivotal connection.

The present invention is shown in the drawings for purposes ofillustration embodied in a golf club 8 of the type intended to be usedon the putting green or in relatively short approach shots to the green.In the use of club of this type which includes putters used on the greenand other clubs such as wedges used for chipping or pitching shotsdirected toward the green from positions short distances off of thegreen, the golfergrasps a handle 9 the upper end of the shaft 10 andnormally swings the club head 11 on the lower end of the shaft in apendulum motion first away from the ball 12 and through a short are asindicated by an arrow 13 in FIG. 1 in'the opposite direction from thedesired travel of the ball, then downice in which the head 11 has a fiatlower bottom or edge surface 11a disposed at a predetermined obtuseincluded angle with respect to the axis 10a of the shaft 10 so that,when the flat lower bottom edge is disposed in its normal horizontalposition at the time of striking the ball, the shaft and its axis 10aare inclined away from the vertical. The angle of such inclination ofthe axis 10a of the shaft is predetermined and is indicated at x in FIG.3 where the vertical is indicated by a dot-dash line 1917. This samerelationship usually exists in the case of clubs used for pitching andchipping shots.

In accordance with the present invention, the handle 9 on the upper endof the club shaft 10 is constructed in a v novel manner to increase thecontrol of the player over the movement of the club head 11 so as tomake it possible even for unskilled players to move the 'head along astraight line of desired movement of the ball 12 andv maintain the headnormal to such line at the time of engagement with the hall. For thispurpose, the handle;

is divided into two sections 17 and 18. One of these,

' a lower section, is secured to the shaft to form an extenthe player.To achieve a true pendulum action with the club head constrained to moveonly in a vertical plane ineluding the straight line of desired movementofthe ball,

the pivotal axis of the sections is disposed horizontally when the clubhead is striking the ball andthe head and shaft are positioned properlyto propel the ball along the desired path. Where the flat bottoms 11a ofthe club head is horizontal under these conditions as shown in FIGS. 1,2 and 3, the head bottom and the pivotal axis' of the handle sectionsparallel each other.

As noted above and shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 of the drawings, the flatbottom 11a of the head 11 is disposed at an obtuse included angle withrespect to the axis of the shaft 10 so that, when the head is inahorizonal position to strike a ball properly, the shaft is inclined awayfrom the vertical and toward the player at the angle x. The pivotal axisof the handle sections 17 and 18 for such a club is disposed at the sameangle with respect to the shaft axis as the bottom of the head so as tobe parallel to the head bottom, the parallel pivotal axis and the headbottom being inclined with respect to a normal to the shaft axis at apredetermined angle y (FIG. 3)

V which is equal to the angle x of inclination of the head watdly alongthe same are as indicated by another arrow 14 in FIG. 1 and into contactwith the ball, and finally through the previous position of the ball ina followthrough motion in the same direction, the ball being propelledtoward the cup 15 along an arrowed line indicated at 16. The club headis elongated transversely of the shaft of the club and, in order topropel the ball accurately along the desired path should remainperpendicular to the path as well as moving along the path at the timethe head strikes the ball.

The putter, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3', ofthe type.

axis away from the vertical 19b. 7 u v In the present instance, thepivotal connection defining such axis is formed by bifurcated lower endportions 19 of the upper handle section with spaced parts straddling anupwardlyprojecting tongue portion 20 on the lower section, alinedapertures 22 and 23 in the three portions tion and are spaced apart adistance only slightly greziter than the thickness of the tongue todefine a slot as shown in FIG. 4 to receive the tongue and permitrelative turning of the two sections. To illustrate the inclination ofthe .opposedw'alls 19a with respect to the shaft axis 1061, the verticalline 19b inFIG. 3 is an imaginary extension-of one ofthe walls.Clearance for such swinging f is provided by rounding the lower endportion of the bifurcated parts of the upper section and the upper endof the tongue While they may take various forms, the handle sectionsin'this instance are formed of solid metal of tapering conical exteriorand a reduced lower end por- Patented Feb. 23, 1965;

tion of the lower section telescopes within the upper tubular endportion of the shaft and is secured thereto in a suitable manner as by apress fit or brazing.

In the use of the improved golf club 8, the golfer first selects adesired straight linepath 16 of movement of' the ball 12 and places theclub-head 11 behind the ball with the longitudinal axis of the headdisposed horizontally and normal to the ball path and with the handlesections 17 and 18 and the shaft 10 alined in a vertical plane. Thepivotal axis of the handle sections then will be disposed horizontally.The golfer then places one hand on the upper hand section and, whileholding-the club high enough that the head clears the ground, grasps thelower handle section in his other hand and swings that section and thehead relative to the stationaryupper section. In this movement and withthe upper section remaining stationary and the pivotal axis remaininghorizontal, the head swings in a vertical plane and witha true pendulumaction and, at the time of striking the ball, is in the same positioninitially selected by the golfer before the start of the swing. Assumingthat position were selected properly, the ball will follow the desiredpath toward the cup with great accuracy.

It will be apparent that, with the improved pivoted handle construction,the golfer determines the direction of the ball with the hand on theupper section 18 and the distance with the other hand on the lowersection 17. The pivotal connection enabling the golfer to insuremovement of the ball along the selected line simply by holding the upperhand section stationary, only a single factor of distance requiresmovement of any parts of the players body. Being concerned only with onesuch factor, even an unskilled player is able to direct the ballconsistently with great accuracy.

I i We claim:

A golf club having an elongated straight shaft and an elongated headsecured to the lower end of said shaft and having a fiat bottom surfaceextending transversely of the shaft at a predetermined angle inclinedfrom a normal to the shaft, said shaft being inclined away from thevertical at said angle when said flat bottom surface is in a horizontalplane, a handle comprising a first straight section secured to the otherend of said shaft to form an extension thereof, a second section adaptedto be grasped and held stationarily by the user, anda pivotal connectionjoining said sections together to swing in opposite directions throughpositions of alignment and about an axis extending transversely of thefirst section and the shaft at References Cited the Examiner UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 2,497,237 2/50 Reineking 273-193 2,694,587 11/54 Bullough287-99 3,033,575 5/62 Hause 273-193 FOREIGN PATENTS 26,154 1901 GreatBritain.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

